Romania: History, Demographics, and Other Information
Brief history of Romania …
Romania’s history has not been as peaceful as its geography. Over the centuries, various migrating people invaded Romania. Today’s Romania was originally called Dacia and was a province of the Roman Empire. Throughout history, Romania has been divided into many principalities … most notably Wallachia, Moldova and Transylvania. In 1862, Wallachia and Moldova united to form the national state of Romania and became a kingdom in 1881.
In 1940, Germany and Italy forced Romania to cede parts of the north and south to Hungary and Bulgaria. Romania joined Germany to fight against the Soviet Union in 1941, but changed sides in 1944 and joined the Soviet forces fighting Fascist Germany.
In 1945, the Yalta Agreement put Romania under Soviet rule although it was never part of the Soviet Union.
Romania’s post WWII history is more widely known primarily due to the excesses of the former dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu. Obsessed with repaying the national debt and megalomaniac building projects, Ceausescu ordered a ban on importation of any consumer products and commanded the exportation of all goods produced in Romania except for minimum food supplies. Severe restrictions of civil rights were imposed.In December 1989, a national uprising led to his overthrow.
The 1991 Constitution established Romania as a republic with a multi-party system, market economy and individual rights of free speech, religion and private ownership.
Romania joined NATO in 2004. Although the accession talks have been completed, Romania must continue to address rampant corruption, while invigorating its lagging economic and democratic reform before it can achieve its hope of joining the European Union in 2007.
Demographics and other information ...
Official Name
Romania
Time zone
Seven hours ahead of U. S. Eastern Standard Time (GMT +2)
Climate
Temperate – similar to northeastern United States
Four distinct seasons
Spring is pleasant with cool mornings and nights, warm days
Summer is quite warm, but cooler in the mountains
Autumn is dry and cool, New England-like fall foliage
Winters can be very cold, especially in the mountain
Area
91,725 square miles
Roughly the size of Oregon
Second largest country in the area (Poland is the largest)
263 cities/towns in Romania
25 cities have a population of more than 100,000
8 cities have a population of more than 300,000
45% of Romanians live in rural areas (2,868 communes and 13,285 villages
Flag of Romania
Three vertical stripes: blue, yellow and red
Capitol
Bucharest (Bucuresti)
Population of more than 2,000,000
Official language
Romanian; German and Hungarian are spoken in some counties
Form of government
Republic with two legislative bodies (Senate and Chamber of Deputies)
Location
Situated in the southeastern part of Central Europe and shares borders with Hungary to the northwest, Yugoslavia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, the Black Sea and Ukraine to the southeast and north, and the Republic of Moldova to the east.
Terrain
Features splendid mountains, beautiful rolling hills, fertile plains and numerous rivers and lakes.
The Carpathian Mountains traverse the center of the country bordered on both sides by foothills and the great plains of the outer rim.
Forests cover over one-fourth of the country, inhabited by bears, deer, lynx, chamois and wolves.
The legendary Danube River ends its 8-country journey at the Black Sea, forming one of the largest and most interesting wetlands in the world, the Danube Delta.
One-third of the country is a fertile plain, largely devoted to agriculture.
Elevation extremes
Lowest point – sea level (Black Sea)
Highest point – 8,350 ft (Mount Moldoveanu)
Population
21.8 million
Ethnic groups (2002 census)
Romanian – 89%
Hungarian – 7.5%
Rroma – 2%
Ukrainian – 0.3%
German – 0.3%
Russian – 0.2%
Turkish – 0.2%
Other – 0.4%
Religions (2002 census)
Christian Orthodox – 87%
Protestant – 5%
Roman Catholic – 5%
Other and unspecified – 3%
Literacy (definition: over 15 years of age with the ability to read and write)
